The Union government has urged quick-commerce companies to stop claiming to offer 10-minute delivery services to protect the rights and safety of gig workers, according to media reports. As part of this change, Blinkit has reportedly revised its principal tagline from “10,000+ products delivered in 10 minutes” to “30,000+ products delivered at your doorstep”.

This came days after platform workers’ unions had called on workers in the quick-commerce sector to strike in the last week of December to demand reforms in the gig economy. The protests disrupted the operations of Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit and Zepto in several cities ahead of the New Year celebrations.

Earlier, gig workers had also submitted a memorandum to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya seeking his intervention to discontinue 10-20 minute delivery mandates. Read on.

A gig worker writes: Why Deepinder Goyal is wrong about the high ‘churn’ rate in the sector

The Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the constitutionality of an amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act mandating permission from the government to begin investigations against public servants under the law. Justice BV Nagarathna held that the provision contravenes the Constitution.

On the other hand, KV Viswanathan upheld the provision, but read it down to state that sanction should depend on the recommendation of the Lokpal or Lokayukta.

The Lokpal at the Centre and the Lokayukta at the state level are anti-corruption ombudsmen. On account of the divergent views, the court directed that the case be placed before the chief justice, who could direct another bench to decide on the questions at hand. Read on.

The civic authorities and persons who feed stray dogs could be held responsible for injuries or deaths caused by animal attacks, the Supreme Court said. The bench said that for every “dog bite, death or injury”, the court would “fix heavy compensation” on the state.

“Liability and accountability [will also be placed] on those who are saying we are feeding dogs,” the court observed. It made the remarks while monitoring compliance with its November 7 order directing local authorities to remove stray dogs from government premises such as hospitals, schools and railway stations. Read on.

Around 2,000 persons, including security personnel, have been killed in the anti-government protests in Iran over the past two weeks, said an unidentified official. He said that “terrorists” were behind the killings.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said he was “horrified” by the violence in the country. “The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” Turk stated. Read on.

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